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Assessment of Malingering Among Head Injury Litigants with the MMPI-2, MMPI-2-RF, and MMPI-3

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Detection of Malingering during Head Injury Litigation

Abstract

Evaluating head injury litigants requires thorough consideration of malingering and response bias. These evaluations are particularly complicated by the multiple domains in which symptoms and impairment are present. Consequently, response bias in these evaluations must be considered along these various symptom domains (e.g., psychological, neurocognitive, somatic). The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and its subsequent versions, MMPI-2 and MMPI-2-RF, have a long history of use in head injury evaluations. The MMPI instruments assess a broad array of psychological symptoms (internalizing symptoms, thought dysfunction, behavioral proclivities, personality traits) and include embedded Validity Scales that detect various threats to protocol validity (consistency in responding, over and underreporting). The current chapter will focus on the ways in which the MMPI instruments can assess response bias in head injury litigation cases. Each of the standard Validity Scales from the instruments are covered in terms of how the scales were developed. Guidance in interpreting these scales is also provided based on the extensive research base supporting their use in these evaluations. The chapter concludes with a review of the recent developments of the measure (i.e., the MMPI-3).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological Sciences, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY, USA

    Jessica L. Tylicki

  2. Department of Psychology, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY, USA

    Anthony M. Tarescavage & Dustin B. Wygant

Authors
  1. Jessica L. Tylicki
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  2. Anthony M. Tarescavage
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  3. Dustin B. Wygant
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Correspondence to Dustin B. Wygant .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Neuropsychology Section, Psych Associates of Maryland Towson and Columbia, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Arthur MacNeill Horton, Jr.

  2. Department of Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University College Station, Austin, TX, USA

    Cecil R. Reynolds

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Tylicki, J.L., Tarescavage, A.M., Wygant, D.B. (2021). Assessment of Malingering Among Head Injury Litigants with the MMPI-2, MMPI-2-RF, and MMPI-3. In: Horton, Jr., A.M., Reynolds, C.R. (eds) Detection of Malingering during Head Injury Litigation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54656-4_8

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